Darien beats Ridgefield in overtime in FCIAC hockey battle

Published 1:00 am, Monday, January 19, 2009

RIDGEFIELD -- While Darien's bench emptied and its players jumped on each other in celebration, many of Ridgefield's players slammed their sticks on the ice and punched the plexiglass.

The Tigers squandered a one-goal third period lead and gave up two power play goals to Darien, eventually losing 3-2 in overtime in an FCIAC boys hockey showdown.

Just 14 seconds after Ridgefield was called for an interference penalty in the overtime period, Darien's J.T. Cook scored when he rebounded his own shot a couple feet from the Ridgefield goal.

Ridgefield goalie
T.J. Zandri
stopped the puck initially, but then lost control of it when he was bumped into by his teammate.

"I had the puck in me," said Zandri. "Then I got pushed by a Darien player, and then by my own defenseman from behind; that's when I lost it."

The loss is Ridgefield's second in a row, and fourth in its last six games.

"I know where I made my mistakes," said Zandri. "The team knows where they made their mistakes. It's just disappointing."

Ridgefield led 1-0 to start the third period, but 52 seconds in, Darien's
Matt Gorski
tied the game with the first of his two goals. Darien grabbed a loose puck behind Ridgefield's net, and Gorski shot the puck between Zandri's legs from just outside the crease.

A little over a minute and a half later, Darien had a 5-on-3 advantage for 48 seconds when Duncan Morrisey was called for interference. After Ridgefield endured the first 1:25 of the powerplay, Gorski scored his second goal of the game to give Darien a 2-1 lead.

Cook skated toward Zandri's left and fired a shot on goal, but Zandri couldn't freeze it. The rebound bounced to Zandri's right, and Gorski was there to put it past him.

"One thing that got us in trouble was the penalties," said Ridgefield coach
Shaun Gallagher
. "(Darien) capitalized. They're a good team and they skate hard."

Darien's lead didn't last for long, though. Less than two minutes later, Ridgefield freshman Chas South scored to tie the game at 2.

It was the first time this season that a player other than a senior has scored a goal for the Tigers.

Ridgefield junior
Peter Rosencrans
took a slapshot from just inside the blueline, and South gathered the rebound, spun around and from a few feet outside the crease lifted a shot that hit the roof of the net.

Aside from Gorski's scoring burst early in the third, Ridgefield maintained control of the puck in the Darien zone for a significant portion of the game, but struggled to get clean shots off.

"We have that prize-fighter mentality -- it's rounds 10 through 12 that show who the champion is," said Darien coach
Russell Foster
of the
Blue Wave
's late surge. "We had to bob and weave a little and then delivered the knockout."